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1、How to Use the Communication Activities to Teach English Vocabulary in the Elementary Class Abstract: The purpose of elementary school English teaching is to improve the students four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Teaching new vocabulary is one of an important section for an En
2、glish teacher in their several kinds of teaching forms. Learning every new word is also important for students. As we known, if primary school teachers give a vocabulary class just like an middle school English teacher, we can imagine that how dull and boring do our activity vivid pupils feel? There
3、fore, we teachers must think over the ways of teaching.Keywords: communication task design; Story telling; correct pronunciation and spelling; meanings of words.Introduction: As it is widely known, vocabulary, the building material, is essential to a language. To achieve the purpose of communication
4、, people need to learn vocabulary first. Words enable people to speak, read and write with clarity, confidence and charm. Furthermore, to learn a new language is to some degree to build a new network, which is expressed by vocabulary. Therefore, acquiring adequate vocabulary is of critical importanc
5、e to language learners. It is clear enough that without knowledge of words, language learning will turn out to be a castle in the air. Therefore, the importance of vocabulary establishes it a basic and crucial position in language teaching and learning. Scholars represented by Lewis (1993) even put
6、forward that vocabulary should be the center of language teaching and learning.The purpose of our Chinese elementary school English teaching is to improve the students four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, with the base of necessary phonetics, large vocabulary and good grammar, bu
7、t this is not the final purpose. The final purpose is to lot let students be able to use the language.In the communication classroom, students play the important role in the carrying out learning tasks as well as the teacher play the partner in the environment. We can use the communicative approach
8、to teach the children to study English words and try to enlarge their vocabulary ability. Although the aural-oral method is not a out-of-date one, but a useful one. Especially it is fit for the beginning stage. It attaches the importance to the oral drills, and has a bad communicative function. As u
9、sual it is only used to a phonetic base. After all, the aim of the language learning is to communicate. Therefore, the two-way communications are more effective and direct, but it is also fit for the beginning stage. Part 1. Communication task based design is a good strategy of teaching method.Commu
10、nication problem solving is a strategy similar to group investigation. It has also been found effective in multicultural classrooms. When using the strategy teaching encourage students to identify concerns they have about their community or neighborhood and carry out independent projects. While solv
11、e the task, the students may learn many communicative skills with their classmates. For instance, we start to teach the greeting words, the students were pleasure to use these words in the morning or afternoon when they came into the school and met their teachers. They try to use these words to expr
12、ess their new feelings. In the context of a meaningful, important, and engaging activity, then, students developed skills in reading, writing, and interpersonal communication.The task-based model is to make the student to use the language in order to communicate their intentions more effectively. Fo
13、r a start, what criteria determine the selection of task, the ordering of tasks, and the evaluation of task? For example, a task-based design aims to learn the hobbies. In this activity, students use a chart to interview their teachers, their parents, their classmates, their relatives, even the stra
14、ngers. They fill out the hobbies in Chinese, and then translate into English. By the work, students learn the new phrase, reading, watching TV, swimming; have a trip, collecting stamps, etc. According to communication method, the teachers should give the students more recognition vocabulary and prod
15、uction vocabulary ensure the students can participate to the communicative activities.Part 2. Story telling is a best way to teach English language.The elementary students learn new vocabulary from their experience such as oral language experiences, like listening and reading to the storybooks. In f
16、act, the relative rarity of words in childrens books is greater than that in all adult conversation. Indeed, the words used in childrens books are considerably rarer than in the speech on prime time adult television. We can read many storybooks to younger children and try to develop their vocabulary
17、. Because children with weaker vocabularies are less likely to learn new words from listening to stories than children with larger vocabularies, teachers need to provide instruction that is more direct for children with smaller vocabularies. On the contrary, teach older students strategies for conte
18、xtual analysis and morphemic analysis. “It is important to choose stories that attract and hold childrens attention (Elley, 1989). For the younger children, especially the beginners, we must use the 5steps: 1,Choose 2-5 words to teach directly from storybooks; 2,Choose words that are important for t
19、he story or important for students to know; 3,Give simple definitions (i.e., examples, synonyms, or definitions) & discussion them in the context of the story; 4, Provide students with the opportunity to process the words deeply”; 5, Discuss the words multiple times.Moreover, for the older children,
20、 we use the next steps:1, Choose words that will enhance the meaning of what students are reading or important for students to know; 2, Use both context and definitions;3, Teach word meanings by using examples, synonyms, and definitions;4, Provide students with the opportunity to process the words d
21、eeply;5, Discuss and practice the words much times.Part 3.We must give the correct pronunciation and spelling in vocabulary presentation.What should you teach a first grader? Phonics or spelling? When we focus on phonics first and build a solid foundation - a command of phonics. That provides the fu
22、ndamental tools for spelling. Then we move on to spelling. If we did not have those phonics tools, every new spelling word would be harder to learn. A word puzzle is a traditional method in the letter linguistic teaching. It is also a best way to practice the second language words. Of course, we hav
23、e to pay more attention to cover the other side of vocabulary development - reading many good books. People who read the most (non-twaddle books) tend to have the best vocabularies. Students might get one of these and write the vocabulary words on it. Make a sentence also become a useful way to outp
24、ut their language. Maybe make a game out of fun, we could have a specific time where the children are to try to use them in a sentence seeing how many times a day they can accurately use one in a sentence. For a little silly cue as a substitute for some other word, that has a very different meaning.
25、 Another idea is every time they are going to use the word in a sentence; they have to say it in bilingual way. The students take their vocabulary words and try to make one sentence using all of them. We must tell the student read aloud and encounter an unfamiliar word, let him see it. Make sure he
26、is reading for pleasure at a level just right for him. If he is reading just right books, he will gradually build his vocabulary. They remember it better if they see it as well as hear it. Especially, if the word does not follow the normal spelling rules, the student must learn it typically.Part 4 T
27、eachers give the students the simple meanings of words by many activities in the consolidation. “Knowing a word means knowing how often it occurs, the company it keeps, its appropriateness in different situations, its syntactic behavior, its underlying form and derivations, its word associations, an
28、d its semantic features.” A second language student might to grasp even one meaning sense of a word in the counter. He cannot realize that one word has several meanings and usages. However, a variety of activities and in many different contexts, a more understaffing of the words meaning and use abil
29、ity will develop. “To build non-verbal representations, elaborate: make illustrations, show pictures, draw diagrams, and list details. Capitalizing on verbal and non-verbal links appears to be worthwhile. ” These are common methods in our vocabulary teaching. Total physical response is the best way
30、to encourage the little students. It is suitable for the beginners course, and later needs to be supplemented by the activities and techniques from other methods. It also aims to develop the vocabulary comprehension, to associate with actions. It tries to replicate typical features of the true envir
31、onment by using body language. TPR connects language with action by getting the learners to do what the teacher tells them to do. In the elementary school, it is popular. It can help the students to memorize the words that the students have learned.More drills must use in the elementary school Engli
32、sh teaching. Even more intercourse methods are used in the Elementary Second Language teaching, such as drawing, singing, playing etc. Computers are popular in the school and family. CAI is widely used in English class. “We need to take advantage of the possibilities inherent in computer-assisted le
33、arning, especially hypertext linking, and create software, which is based on sound principles of vocabulary acquisition theory.” Acquiring of vocabulary through guessing words in context is likely to be a very slow process. Recent studies have shown students seldom guess the correct meanings. When t
34、he students are trained to use flexible reading strategies to guess words in context, their comprehension may still be low due to insufficient vocabulary knowledge. Considering that many children learners have a limited amount of time to learn a body of words, it is not the most efficient way to app
35、roach the task. Build a large sight vocabulary. Learning the 2000 most frequent words in English can be very productive. “ Difficult words need attention as well. Because student will avoid words that are difficult in meaning, in pronunciation, or in use, preferring words that are can be generalized
36、, lessons must be designed to tackle the tricky, less-frequent words along with the highly-frequent.” Encourage students to learn all the vocabulary they need in the classroom, to help students learn how to continue to acquire vocabulary on their own. Students must to know that vocabulary acquiring
37、is crucial to their skill in using a second language. There is no need to motivate them to want more words under their command. Teachers should integrate some good strategies.Another aspect of encourage independent is to teach ways to learn vocabulary. Language teacher need to design class activitie
38、s which capitalize on metacognitive training so that the students are learning different ways to practice words and expand meaning while they are acquiring them, especially in the elementary second language teaching. Word Awareness - Good vocabulary teaching makes students excited about words and le
39、ads them to attend more closely to them (Stahl & Shiel, 1999; see References). The social intercourse method (the Communicative Language Teaching), can also be called the Communicative Approach.An important step in being independent is to recognize ones own style of learning. We can help students to
40、 development personal plan of vocabulary acquisition since most vocabulary learning will take place outside of the classroom.Conclusion:Word Awareness - Good vocabulary teaching makes students excited about words and leads them to attend more closely to them (Stahl & Shiel, 1999; see References). Th
41、e social intercourse method (the Communicative Language Teaching), can also be called the Communicative Approach. In the communication classroom, the teachers play the partner in the environment, but they are very important. We can use the communicative approach to teach the children to study Englis
42、h words and try to enlarge their vocabulary ability. Especially it is fit for the beginning stage. After all, the aim of the language learning is to communicate. Notes: Norbert Schmitt, Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy, Page241. Norbert Schmitt, Vocabulary: Description, acquisition
43、and pedagogy, Page244. Norbert Schmitt, Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy, Page257. Norbert Schmitt, Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy, Page240.Bibliography:1. Arends, Richard 1, Learning to Teach, A Division of The McGraw-Hill Companies.1998.2. Davies Paul, Pearse Er
44、ic, Success in English Teaching, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2002.3. Nunan David, DesigningTasks for the Communicative Classroom. People Education Press, the Foreign Language Education and Research Press & Cambridge University Press. 2000.4. Qun Hui, Liu Shoulan, Teaching English as a
45、 foreign Language, Yunnan University Press.1999.5. Schmitt Norbert & McCarthy Michael, Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy, Historical Linguistic, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,2002.6. Scrivener Jim, Learning Teaching, a Guidebook for English Language Teachers, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2002.8